


Ah! A Battle Goddess

by crissy_writes_garbage



Category: Naruto, ああっ女神さまっ | Ah! Megami-sama! | Oh My Goddess!
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, F/F, F/M, Goddess!Sakura AU, Haruno Sakura-centric, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, M/M, Mentions of Belldandy, Mentions of Skuld, Mentions of Urd, Mentions of minor or side characters from Naruto, OC mentions, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi-Canon Compliant, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crissy_writes_garbage/pseuds/crissy_writes_garbage
Summary: Sakura is a First class, Second division, Unlimited License Battle Goddess.After a faithful request call, she ends up becoming the daughter of a barren couple and things are more complex than they seem. Sakura's general mission is to finalize the wish granted to the Haruno couple, however her actual mission has her hunting down a fallen Goddess while covering as a human girl.With chaotic team members, dangerous confrontations and suspicious scenarios unraveling, what will happen first: Sakura exposing her Divinity or her being able to take down the fallen Goddess turned Demoness?
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	1. Ah! The Battle Goddess Descends!

**Author's Note:**

> Although this story is a mix of Ah! Megami-Sama and the Naruto series, I don't really think you need to be well versed on the first one since I will be using a bit of the lore but in no way will I mash up the stories since it'll be more focused on the Naruto narrative.
> 
> I will be putting what each asterisk refers to at the end notes. Thank you for picking up this story and please do be patient with me for updates! This chapter will be the only one where I'll put notes at the top by the way!

Kizashi and Mebuki were the miserably happy couple of the village.

They had met when Kisashi was 23 and Mebuki was 19. Kisashi, yet to grow his beard and with his dull pink hair in a crew-cut style, had decided to reward himself for a job well done during a particularly busy month in the office and thus entered one rather old Sweets shop. 

Inside the little sweets shop, located in the marketplace near the shopping district, Mei* Mebuki was ringing up and handing out orders as patreons came and left. She had then come across a rather kind looking Shinobi, which had stricken her as weird since Shinobi should be deadly and ruthless. The unnamed Shinobi had then proceeded to stutter nervously while saying his order, making a bit of a fool of himself in front of the dirty-blonde girl. 

It took him three more visits to build up the courage to say his name and it took him two more before he asked her on a date.

Mebuki learned that Kizashi was a Shinobi more on name than in practice, seen as how he dedicated himself to the Administrative Branch where he took care of filing and certain finances. He was a Genin ranked Shinobi with little interest in pursuing higher rankings, he had an extremely sweet tooth and he enjoyed making people laugh. Kizashi learned that her grandparents on her father’s side had previously been merchant travelers, selling different types of things but after finally settling down in what was yet to become Konoha, they opened the shop and started selling different types of candies and pastries that were generations old and passed down her family. 

Kizashi’s parents had also been civilians, but due to economical problems, he had decided to become a ninja to be able to support his parents financially. He didn’t enjoy the ruthlessness and goriness of the business however, and thus he hid himself behind papers and numbers. 

After two years of dating, Kizashi had proposed to Mei Mebuki. A year later, they had a spring wedding in april and Kizashi quit his job in administration to join Mebuki’s family business. 

They had a happy life as husband and wife, but it seemed that to balance it out, they needed to experience misery. As a result, no matter how much they tried and wished for it, the Haruno household could not conceive. They tried naturally, and even followed some of the old wife tales passed by word of mouth but nothing seemed to work. Finally they turned to the medics, and although they were able to conceive twice, both children were never able to take their first breath.

In the end, they had accepted that they were a barren couple, orphans were given to their next of kin or introduced into the academy, so adoption was not possible either. They tried not to give in to their despair at the realization.

  
  


At age 25, Haruno Mebuki learned to live with the whispers of the villagers. However, in the summery heat of June, she could hear the laments and mocking of others more clearly. That day, Kizashi consoled his crying wife, frustrated that he was unable to do anything to alleviate her pain because he felt the same one too. A couple of days later, the dark-pink haired man had decided to reach out to his in-laws, hopeful that a couple of days in a small vacation could cheer up his ever serious but kindhearted wife and make her forget about their curse even if just a little. 

The idea had come to him while staring at the little pond that took place in their rather small backyard. He had taken his still mourning wife to sit at the dock in front of their room and enjoy each other's company with the cool breeze that only came at night in summers. The phone was located in the living room, which was next to their bedroom, and a rather short walk to the sliding door next to theirs offered him access to it. With determination, he picked up the phone and dialed without taking his worrying eyes away from Mebuki.

That night, however, would change their lives and the ones of so many others in various ways. 

Kizashi didn’t know how it happened, one moment he’s dialing the number to his in-laws home and instead of hearing the voice of the operator that connected the phone lines, a sweet sounding and very warm voice answered instead.

“Good evening, you have reached the Goddess Help Line.”

The young man blinked, “Uh, sorry I think I’ve-”

“Please hold on for a moment, I shall take your request in person.”

“What?”

A soft blue glow started to emit from their small pond, Kizashi dropped the phone in his hands in astoundment while Mebuki stared in amazement as a young looking girl emerged from the light.

Cherry blossoms materialized from around her and gently dropped into the water. Her hair was as pink as the petals around her and it was intricately pinned back into a bun that seemed to be held together by three golden hairpins in the shape of tree branches, which were placed on her right side. At the top of her head she had a bump of hair that was decorated with small pale purple peonies**, and her face was framed with two strands of hair that reached past her chest. 

She wore a pale salmon kimono, the sleeves reached to her calves and it was lined with a golden strip on the hem, which then became a very small pattern of lotus flowers until it faded as it got closer to the middle. The obi was burgundy and in the middle of it sat a jade stone in the shape of a dragon surrounded by petals, and it hung from a thin golden silk robe. The v-shaped collar of her kimono exposed her caramel skin, which seemed golden, and her collarbones with jade rings on her little and ring fingers on her left hand. 

  
  


On her ears she wore two raindrop shaped earrings on each side, also made from gold and jade. On her forehead sat a purple diamond which also had two smaller ones fanning out from each side, on her cheeks were matching purple thin pointed ovals that stretched as wide as her eyes were long. Her emerald green eyes were lined with red eyeliner and her plump red lips parted with a polite smile. 

  
  


For the couple it had seemed the young girl emerged in slow motion from the water, but in reality it had been only seconds until the bright blue light faded, leaving the cherry blossom petals behind floating in the pond, and the young beautiful girl gently landed on the grass in front of them. She walked forward three steps on her white tabi socks and burgundy okobo sandals and bowed, “Pleased to meet you, my name is Sakura. I am a First class, Second category, Unlimited license Battle Goddess.” She straightened up, “It would be my pleasure to grant your heart's one true desire.”

The Haruno couple was stunned into silence, not knowing what to believe. For all they could know, the girl could be a foreign or rogue ninja looking to start some trouble. But although the  _ Mei Sweets Shop  _ was a rather popular place, it didn’t mean the couple was rich. They weren’t a family of generational ninjas with Kekkei Genkai nor did either of them come from prominent clans, so she couldn’t be there to harm or rob them.

They invited Sakura into the living room, Mebuki offering her some green tea, and sat down at the coffee table. The blonde wife was the first to speak up from the two, “I’m- I’m sorry, it’s just that… Are you really a Goddess?”

Sakura set down the brown teacup gracefully after one sip, “Yes, it must be hard for you to truly believe it, but I really am a Goddess. And Goddesses cannot lie.” The couple exchanged a look, “Why are you here then? I am really not understanding why you, if you’re really a Goddess, would come here? What do you truly want?” Kizashi inquired with some hostility, not fully trusting the divine girl.

The young Goddess gave him another kind smile, “I am here to grant you a wish. I am from the Goddess Relief Agency, my job is to help grant the one true desire of a soul that has known great misfortune or misery.” She took another sip of her beverage, putting it down again before speaking “If you desire for riches, world peace, the destruction of the universe, or anything else then I can grant it. No matter what it is.” The blonde woman gripped her husband’s hand, “Then-” she looked at the pink haired Goddess with desperation, “Then-,” if it could be anything they wanted, she knew what her wish was, “Then I wish,-” she said with a trembling voice, her teary pine green eyes staring into her bright emerald ones, “to give birth and raise a Goddess like you.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise, as in a trance, she lifted her face to the ceiling and another soft blue glow emitted from the three diamonds on her forehead, creating a beam that shot up into the sky and tore through their roof. A minute later the light disappeared and the young Goddess fainted, but before her body touched the floor, Mebuki caught her in her arms. Sakura’s body started to glow into a pale green light, slowly it faded away into dust like lights and entered Mebuki’s stomach. 

Then it was as if nothing ever happened, Mebuki and Kizashi stared at her stomach. The blonde woman cradled her flat belly, not knowing what else to do. A second later, the wind picked up and a couple of the cherry blossom petals flew into the livingroom and dropped in the middle of the coffee table where a white envelope with silver detailing appeared. 

Hesitantly, Kizashi reached for it and opened it with caution. “What does it say?” his wife questioned, he read the contents twice before answering her again. “It… It says that your wish was granted and Sakura has been conceived inside you. She’ll grow up with her powers locked to experience humanity and once we pass away she will return to Heaven. Also something about checking in on certain occasions.”

“So, I’m pregnant?”

“Yeah.”

Mebuki smiled, “I’m pregnant!”

“We’re having a daughter!” Kizashi exclaimed, hugging his wife who was now crying for very different reasons.

  
  
  


Nine months later, during a bright afternoon on March 28th, Haruno Sakura was born to Haruno Mebuki and Haruno Kizashi. One of the happiest families in the village.


	2. Ah! The Precious Memories Return

When Sakura turned five, her parents gifted her a pair of raindrop shaped earrings with what looked to be gold and jade. When she had finally put them on, Sakura started dreaming of magical places and of magical things that she saw herself do as a grown up. 

In one dream she saw herself moving water in the air and giving it different shapes and healing people with it, in another dream she was moving the earth and creating beautiful buildings as well as reshaping mountains, in a few ones she would dream of herself making flowers and trees grow wherever she pleased. 

Her favorite dreams, however, were those in which she hung out with a bronze skinned woman with long white hair, her forehead had a purple equilateral triangle that pointed down and her cheeks had purple right angle triangles on each one. She had a black choker and dark purple evening gloves that reached her forearms, her equally dark purple dress had black thick straps resting on her shoulders and the neckline plunged into a deep v-cut that stopped above her belly button and it had an open slit on the left side. A black cape fell from her shoulders to the floor, with the inside lined with a dark pink, and she wore black ankle boots. Golden triangles outlined the hem of her gloves and her straps while a thin gold line traced her neckline. She had a Silver bracelet on each wrist, and Sakura adored her.

  
  


She didn’t know the lady’s name, but she knew she was important and that she admired her a lot. The lady could do magic as well, and she controlled electricity. She would teach Sakura little tricks and some potions, and they laughed and hung out together with another lady and young girl who seemed to be her sisters. 

Whenever she dreamed of her, Sakura felt a little sad. She didn’t know why.

  
  
  


At age 6, Sakura was enrolled in the Ninja Academy.

Although her parents believed she wouldn’t really pursue a military path, like her father, they enrolled her so that she would be able to learn to read and write better, and to learn how to add numbers like her dad does for their sweets shop. During the days she learned a lot about different things like chakra and math, she also met other kids her age and had become friends with a pale blonde girl named Yamanaka Ino and a black haired girl named Hyuuga Hinata.

The three of them would play together and also learn new moves from each other, some of the other kids would tease Sakura about her big forehead or about how she wouldn’t last at the Academy because her parents weren’t ninjas like the others. Hinata would reassure her that those things didn’t matter and Ino always stuck up for her and ended up fighting some of those other kids when they were too mean. Those times, she was really thankful to have such good friends like them.

When Sakura turned 10, her parents gave her another similar set of earrings and pierced her ears a second time.

Ino told her that the earrings doubled up like that looked super cool, Hinata silently agreed. For her birthday, she celebrated with her parents and grandparents at her house. Her grandma and mom made her a big strawberry cake that she ended sharing with her two besties that night, Sakura had managed to get permission from her parents and arrange a little sleepover for her birthday.

It had been tough to get the head of the Hyuuga clan to agree, but with Ino’s dad reassuring him, they had gotten his permission.

They spent the night in her room reading fashion magazines that Ino brought and talking about who wore what best and which model or actress was better. Finally, they talked about the one topic Ino really wanted to discuss.

“You guys, I think I have a boy I like!” she squeaked, Sakura giggled at her exclamation. Next to her on the tatami, Hinata blushed a deep red “... Me- Me too” she said quietly. The other two girls gasped dramatically, jumping on her as soon as she confessed, “OMG you totally have to tell us who it is Hinata!” demanded Ino.

“Totally! Who is it? C’mon spill!” Sakura said while shaking her for an answer. Ino hummed, “Let me guess… Is it Naruto?” Her face flushed even more, providing them with the answer they were looking for.

The Sakura and Ino squealed in delight together, the pink haired girl holding Hinata’s hands “I can’t believe it! How did you even fall in love with him, Hina-chan? Did he do a big romantic gesture? What happened?”

Ino rolled her eyes, “Ugh as if! That loser deadlast can’t even throw a kunai, he really doesn’t have the brain to even do something romantic! I don’t even think he knows what that word means!” Hinata frowned at the comment, “Please don’t insult him Ino-chan.”

Sakura nodded, “Yeah Ino, don’t insult her man. She’ll use her cool eye thingy on you otherwise” she teased. The blonde girl chuckled, holding her hands up in defeat, “Alright okay sorry, now spill the beans Hinata! How did it happen?!”

The Hyuuga heiress started detailing a short story where in one of the very few days she found herself alone, two bigger kids started to tease and bully her for being ‘a coward’ and ‘an embarrsment’ to her clan because she did not give off the ‘Hyuuga aura’. They started pushing her around when a blond boy stood between them and her, demanding they back off. In the end they ended up beating him up real bad until one of Hinata’s bodyguards found her and scared away the bullies. The next day she had thanked him for helping her and apologized for not being able to do anything for him. The kid shrugged and told her it was okay, he could handle those types of things and proper girls like her shouldn’t really get their hands dirty anyways. They exchanged names and he told her that one day he would become Hokage and then if anyone ever tried bullying her again he would fight them off again. ‘Because the Hokage protects others from bullies!’ he exclaimed.

  
  


“Wow…” Ino sighed

“... Yeah.” Sakura nodded.

“That’s… actually super romantic. Huh, who could have guessed…” Ino said thoughtfully, making Hinata blush red again. She patted her black haired friend on the shoulder, “Honestly? I think you could do better anyways, but I will support you and your prince charming until the very end Hina-chan!” 

Sakura patted her other shoulder similarly, “Same here Hina-chan.” she turned to look at Ino, “Anyways, who is  _ your  _ prince charming Ino?” Sakura questioned, wiggling her eyebrows.

Ino beamed, “Uchiha Sasuke! He’s so totally cool and indifferent! He’s like an ice prince, he ignores the girls and focuses only on being a top tier Shinobi! I have no doubt he’s gonna end up becoming the top student when we graduate, and who is a better match than the top female student?” she said in one hurried breath, pointing at herself with her thumb, “Which is so totally going to be me! I heard from the senpai’s that the top male and female students at graduation become a couple end up being happily married later when they’re grownups!” the blonde said with a big smile.

Hinata chuckled softly at her friend's antics, “Well, it’s a rather weird way to set a goal of becoming a top female student. But I am proud regardless.”

“Thank you?” 

“You’re welcome.”

“How about you Sakura?” pearl colored eyes and ocean blue eyes stared at her. “Huh?” 

Ino leaned in closer, expectation written across her face. “Is there a boy you like?” Sakura thought about a raven haired boy with pitch black eyes that carried a red and white fan on his back. “Not really… I don’t think I’ve found someone... So, yeah.” she ended lamely.

Ino huffed with disappointment, “Well whatever, there’s a ton of boys at the Academy so I’m sure you’ll find your prince charming too soon enough.” Hinata simply chuckled in response, Sakura hoped her smile seemed genuine enough.

“You know? I heard that Uchiha Sasuke-san likes girls with long hair.” the pink haired girl quipped.

“Really?” Ino asked while passing her fingers through her short hair. Sakura nodded.

Ino gave them a sly smirk with an arched eyebrow, “Then ladies, I think I know what my next mission is!”

  
  
  


A few hours later, the three of them were sound asleep. That night, Sakura dreamed that she was a skilled double axe wielder and a ferocious fighter in battles. She learned that her mystery Lady was named Urd, and that she, as well as her sisters and herself, were Goddesses. She dreamed of a beautiful garden she created and of a brunette angel that followed her around.

When she woke up, she had a feeling her dreams were probably a bit more than just dreams.

  
  
  
  


The day graduation had arrived, Sakura's parents had celebrated her at a nearby restaurant. Gifting her a basic set of Genin-level Shinobi necessities, they let her reunite and celebrate with her friends but made her promise to go home before 9:00pm. The rest of her day she had spent getting assigned to a rather peculiar group (Naruto, Sasuke and herself), meeting their Jonin-level sensei (a 20-something year old, cryptic guy named Kakashi) and sharing introductions with her new Genin team. 

The meeting on the rooftop had been rather quick and left her with some time between seeing her friends and having to meet her parents, therefore she set herself to just walk around the nearby park and read a book while waiting for her friends to catch up with her. She actually wanted to at least be on good terms with both Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, trying to invite them to eat out before splitting up. Sakura didn’t count on Sasuke-kun taking it as her trying to ask her on a date or Naruto-kun actually accepting the date, so she just canceled altogether. 

  
  
  


A couple hours passed and Hinata and Ino caught up with her, they shared experiences and hung out for two hours or so before having to go back home, by the time Sakura arrived at her house the clock read 7:48pm. When she stepped out the main hall and into the living room, her parents were waiting for her.

Two jade rings sat atop an envelope that had silver detailing. With permission, she picked up the envelope that had her name written in a foregn language that she could somehow read. It read as such:

“Sakura,

By the time you have read this letter, you will already have lived 12 years as a human girl. I wonder what type of simple life you have been experiencing and how it feels to have to learn to grow up again. I hope you are doing well and that you are standing your ground and behaving like the powerful being you truly are.

Unfortunately, I am forbidden from disclosing too much information to you as per the regulation. Do not fret, once you put on the rings, you will know.

  
  


Best of luck little flower,

-Your mentor, Urd

  
  


P.S. Belldandy and Skuld send their regards.”

  
  


Hesitating only slightly, she looked at her parents for further explanation but to her surprise, they couldn’t really give her one. Sakura let out a sigh and placed both rings, one on her little finger and the other on her ring finger, and then everything made sense.

  
  


She remembered that she wasn’t only Haruno Sakura, but a First class, Second category, Unlimited license Battle Goddess. She remembered that her hair used to reach to the bottom of her spine, but she liked having it pinned back and that she was a fearsome warrior when needed. She remembered that her natural affinity was water, but she could command the earth and nature to her will. She remembered that her singing voice was powerful enough to seal away demons and stop apocalypses. 

She remembered her Angel*, Garden of Eden, the physical reflection of her soul.

And she remembered her powerful and headstrong magical teacher, Urd from the Norse Division**. 

Sakura stood up from where she was sitting and hugged both of her parents, remembering how her mother looked so fragile and hopeful at the thought of being able to bear a child of her own. How they must have suffered greatly for them to be given the opportunity to reach the Goddess Relief Agency Help Line, and how they have raised and cared for her for so long. 

Maybe another person in her place would have felt trapped, but all Sakura felt was thankful for this opportunity. 

  
  


Time passed and Sakura had stayed up talking with her parents till 10:30ish at night, finally she had to excuse herself and went to her room. There another white envelope was waiting for her on her bed, except this one was lined with a soft golden light: A message from The Almighty. The letter was written in the language of the Heavens, thus only she could read its contents, this is what they said:

“Sakura,

As you know, your memory should not have resurfaced until your current mission is complete or unless you were under great mortal peril. We believe this is a side effect from the wish Haruno Mebuki asked for since it is slightly conflicting with the system, yet still valid. The issue has been resolved by giving you back your limiters, which in turn gave you back your memories and divinity.

This does not mean you’re a full fledged Goddess however, unless you’re in mortal peril or both of the Haruno couple passes on, your full powers cannot be entirely unleashed. You will be able to use a certain amount of your powers so as not to raise suspicion of your true identity. Be careful and do not let your guard down, the enemy is moving.

  
  
  


Best regards,

The Almighty.”

  
  
  


The letter banished into nothing as she finished reading it, with a new resolve and with a reminder of her real mission, Haruno Sakura turned in for the night, excited for tomorrow’s first team meeting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In case the reader is unfamiliar: in the anime Ah! Megami-Sama, all goddesses have an angel which is the mirror reflection of a goddess's innermost soul as well as her closest companion. 
> 
> **The mentioned goddesses in Ah! Megami-sama are all norse goddesses, I wanted the liberty of making Sakura a goddess without compromising what is canon lore, so I made up the different agency divisions. Urd is part of the Norse pantheon division and Sakura is part of the Japanese pantheon division.


	3. Ah! A Promise Is Made

In the short amount of time since Sakura had become a Genin, she has experienced true helplessness three times in her life.

The first time it happened was in a mission in the land of waves, their team had been given small D-rank missions to complete for a couple of weeks and the mission that time had been to escort a master bridge-builder and it was a C-rank mission. Everything had seemed to be going smoothly until two kiri-nin ambushed them, Sakura jumped in to defend Mr. Tazuna from the attacks but was momentarily saved by Sasuke. Kakashi-sensei then proceeded to easily defeat the two kiri-nin and figured out that the reason why they targeted Mr Tazuna was due to him being hunted down and thus, making the mission B-rank or higher.

Soon after they came across a man named Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist. Although suspicious if this was an actual demonic attack, Zabuza was purely human so Sakura played her role as an inexperienced Genin facing a ruthless killer. While she stayed behind to watch over the master bridge-builder, Kakashi-sensei had fought against Zabuza. With a bit of ingenious help from Naruto and Sasuke, their Sensei was able to gain the upper hand but before he could give the final blow, a hunter-nin killed Zabuza and took his body away.

  
  


Within a couple of days, Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei met yet again and fought another ruthless battle. The hunter-nin was named Haku, and he turned out to have been working with Zabuza. Haku had lured Naruto and Sasuke away into their own battle and Sakura was once again left to guard Mr. Tazuna. She watched with worry as Naruto and Sasuke kept getting stabbed with needles, she watched as Kakashi spilled as much blood as his enemy, and she watched as Sasuke collapsed on the floor due to a huge amount of needles stabbing him to protect Naruto.

Her body begged her to move and take care of the situation. As a Battle Goddess, this would be child’s play for her but both her mission and due to her pride as a Goddess, she refrained from doing so. After all, she was not allowed to interfere in human affairs unless demonic forces were at play. Thus far, this senseless battle was the result of human greed, therefore she had no right to interfere in it. She hadn’t known the feeling of being completely helpless in a millennia, it rubbed her the wrong way to know that these were her limits until she could be able to release more of her power according to human standards.

In a tragic turn of events, Haku sacrificed himself by taking a chidori for Zabuza. The corrupt leader emerged from seemingly nowhere and tried to dispose of him with a mercenary group, but to everyone’s surprise, with two broken arms and many stab wounds, Zabuza managed to reach the corrupt leader and kill him. The mercenary group fled in fear and for one final moment, Zabuza was able to lie down next to Haku and drift into death. 

Holding her hands together, quietly without nobody’s notice, Sakura sang the ‘Song of Light’, granting the tragic man’s last request and letting him and Haku reunite in the afterlife.

  
  


The second time Sakura used her powers was during the Chunin Exams. Her team had successfully managed to pass the first half of the exam, a written test where all members had to get the same scores. However, the second part of the exam was more challenging than she anticipated. The goal was to obtain both ‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’ scrolls in the Forest of Death, then bring them back to the tower in the middle of the forest, but doing so had been far more dangerous and even more challenging. 

Although her team had been able to obtain the scrolls, the real battle began when a woman with long black hair in a hay sunhat had disguised herself as Naruto. After Sasuke had managed to decipher her tricks, she revealed her true form with a cloud of smoke. As she declared the Battle of the Scrolls to begin, she casted an illusion strong enough to root Sakura in her place, the image had been quick but it was far too detailed to not feel like reality. In the illusion, Sakura saw her own death at the hands of the mysterious woman. Because she lacked the skills to use her powers like humans used theirs, she wasn’t able to break through the enchantment. Luckily before the kunai could touch her, Sasuke had stabbed himself and thrown both of them away from the weapons. 

The way the woman moved was too snake-like, but these were still her own human abilities. So once more, Sakura could not directly interfere in the battle as she once again watched a petrified Sasuke and a reckless Naruto fight against the woman and her Beast Snake. In one swift motion, Naruto had stopped the Beast Snake from attacking a shocked Sasuke. The young deity felt her heart in her throat from just watching the scene play, unable to help due to her set limitations. 

The mystery woman managed to knock out the blond boy, tossing him aside as if he was an object. Sakura moved before she could think, this is one thing she could do right now, she threw herself forward from the branch and managed to catch Naruto before he could hit the ground. She held him securely once they reached the ground and gave the unnamed woman a fierce stare, seeing her hesitate just for a second. “You will not get away with this!” she yelled.

The woman chuckled at her antics, but before she could say anything Sasuke had barreled her with kunais and shurikens, starting yet another battle for survival. His eyes glowed red and two black tomes floated in his irises, his reaction time and speed had increased a bit more, and it seemed he was matching the woman in the battle. Punches, kicks and fireballs were exchanged between them and in a decisive maneuver, Sasuke had managed to trap the woman with metal wire to a tree and then incinerated her with his flames.

With a proud smile, Sakura gently laid Naruto against a tree and rushed to her exhausted teammate's side, “You did it Sasuke-kun! You took her down!” The raven haired boy had been leaning on his knees, panting at his lack of stamina, but he gave Sakura a glance and the faint ghost of a proud smirk at her remark.

Before he could utter a word, the young kunoichi felt her body tense and a great invisible weight forced her on her knees. The woman’s face had melted, showing grey skin and a snake eye from the left side that had tore apart. Her voice was now masculine, and she still had a condescending smile on her lips. “I would have never thought such a young child could wield so much of the Sharingan, seeing as how new it is still to you. You might even surpass your brother in the future.”

Sasuke tensed at the words, scowling “Who are you?!”

The woman chuckled, “My name is Orochimaru.” Her hands formed an odd hand seal which let her neck stretch from where she was standing and speed towards Sasuke. Her fangs sunk into his neck and then she retracted her head, “I enjoyed watching your various powers,” she laughed “I look forward to seeing them grow, Uchiha Sasuke.” and then her body morphed with the tree bark and vanished.

  
  


Once Orochimaru had disappeared, Sakura was able to move her body again and catched Sasuke as he squirmed and groaned in pain. He held his neck where he had been bitten, and Sakura could see a three-tome seal had formed in the same spot. “Hold on, Sasuke!” he gripped her hand tightly while trying to suppress his grunts. “It’ll be okay, just hold on it’ll pass!” she worryingly exclaimed, the sun had begun to set and it encased the entire forest in an orange glow. With a final yell of pain, Sasuke collapsed on her unconscious. She held him closed and tried her best to not lose focus.

  
  


On the verge of frustrated tears, Sakura had created a crevice big enough to act as a tent in one of the huge and old trees of the forest. Making makeshift pillows from both boys’s weapons pouches, she laid them down on soft moss and watched over them until night passed. The sun had risen again and Sakura was on the verge of sleep but she willed herself to stay alert in case she needed to defend her teammates. Her stomach growled in hunger and her eyelids felt heavy, nevertheless she refused to fall asleep.

  
  
  


The third and final time happened as the sun rose in the sky’s early morning.

“A sleepless night watch?” said an uninterested voice. Sakura’s head turned to the speaker, a teenager with a bandaged face and sleeves that reached the floor with beige fur on his back. Next to him was another teenage boy with spiked black hair and a girl with long dark brown hair that wore a beige vest and camo grey pants. The same teenager spoke again, “Wake up Sasuke. We want a fight.”

Sakura frowned at them, not sparing a single word to them. In the next second, all three ninjas jumped to attack her, but Sakura had anticipated ambushes so she set off one of the traps she built. 

In total, she had prepared five traps. Each becoming more and more dangerous, but not deadly, as they got closer to the tree. And each time, the three teenagers would manage to evade or block the attacks, growing more and more impatient by the second. ‘If they manage to reach me,’ she thought worryingly, ‘i won’t be able to fight back’. The pink haired kunoichi gripped the kunai tighter, creating tactics in her mind to disarm her opponents without injuring them. 

After they had passed the final trap, Sakura braced herself for their anger. However, before they could even think of reaching her, a green blur had pushed them back. 

Rock Lee. The boy who had confessed his undying love for her before the first part of the exam, she watched him with surprise as he declared he would defend her until his last breath and then proceeded to fight the bloodlusting group. In the end, their methods were more advanced and more ruthless than Lee could keep up with and Sakura rushed to his side to try and protect him despite knowing there was nothing she could truly do.

Before she could reach him, the girl of the group had pulled her back into the group by her long pink curls, keeping her in a kneeling position while taunting her for her uselessness. It was then when she finally let a tear run down, because the girl was not wrong. She could help with healing or knowledge, but she could not fight back. Even if they were wicked humans, as a Goddess, she could not harm them. 

Just as her tear dropped to the ground, it froze in midair. Time had stood still, the sky lighted up in a heavenly light, and a message was given to her:

“Battle access granted temporarily for four minutes. Remember to cause no fatal harm to the humans, doing so could end in disciplinary action in the future.”

  
  


Then just as quickly, time had once more resumed, the tear finally reaching the ground. With a newfound resolution, the young kunoichi gripped the kunai in her hand. Bringing it upwards and slicing off the long locks of pink hair she had grown out, they had been tenderly cared for and grown out because it was something that reminded her of the people she cared for back in Heaven.

Now, she will use the short strands to remind her of her strength and of those who have protected her when she was unable to do anything else but watch.

‘One day, I will finally be able to protect you all.’ she swore. Making the best of the four precious minutes given to her, Sakura was able to once more act as a warrior.

**Author's Note:**

> *Mei is Japanese for Sprouting Life
> 
> **Japan has its own flower language called 'Hanakotoba'. In Hanakotoba, Peonies stand for Nobility, Respect and Good Fortune


End file.
